The Pentagon has confirmed that Nidal Malik Hasan, the former US Army major responsible for the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, will be put to death by firing squad, marking the first military execution using that method since the conclusion of World War Two.
The announcement was made on Monday by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who revealed via social media that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution and that President Donald Trump had given it his approval. According to Parnell, the Secretary of the Army will now determine when and where the execution will take place. In a post on X, Parnell declared that "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."
Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist originally from Virginia, opened fire on 5 November 2009 inside a crowded medical processing building at the Fort Hood base in Texas, where soldiers preparing for deployment were waiting for check-ups and vaccinations. The assault left 13 unarmed US service members dead and another 32 wounded, making it the deadliest non-combat attack ever carried out on an American military installation.
During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan admitted to being the gunman and offered an apology for what he described as "any mistakes." He also stated that he believed his actions were necessary to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. A panel of 13 officers convicted him on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, and the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.
The case has remained one of the most high-profile and emotionally charged in modern US military history, prompting repeated debates over security procedures on domestic bases, the handling of radicalisation within the ranks, and the appropriate legal response to mass violence committed by service members.
Hasan is currently one of only four inmates held on the US military's death row. Under military law, an execution of this nature cannot proceed without presidential approval, and it must also clear appellate review and receive a final judgment confirming its legality.
The history of capital punishment within the US military has been far from straightforward. The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but the practice was restored the following year through an executive order issued by then-President Ronald Reagan. That legal back-and-forth underscores how unusual military executions have become in the modern era.
Executions carried out by the military operate under a distinct legal framework compared with those administered at the state level. The overwhelming majority of executions in the United States take place under state authority, with 27 states, the military, and the federal government all retaining capital punishment as a legally available sentencing option.
Death by firing squad is especially rare. Last year, South Carolina carried out an execution using a firing squad — the first in that state's history and the first time the method had been employed anywhere in the United States in 15 years. Four other states permit the use of a firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah.
The decision to move forward with Hasan's execution reflects the broader posture of the Trump administration on capital punishment. Trump has long been a vocal supporter of the federal death penalty and moved to reinstate it through an executive order signed on the first day of his administration in January 2025. That order describes capital punishment as "an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens."
The move reverses the approach taken under former President Joe Biden, whose justice department had issued a moratorium on the federal use of the death penalty. The shift highlights the stark ideological divide between successive administrations over whether the state should carry out executions at all.
For the victims' families and survivors of the Fort Hood attack, the announcement may bring a measure of closure after more than 15 years of legal proceedings. Yet it also revives painful memories of a day that exposed deep vulnerabilities at one of the US military's largest installations and raised difficult questions about how signs of extremism are identified and addressed among serving personnel.
The timing and location of the execution have not yet been disclosed, and further legal challenges could still arise before the sentence is carried out. Nonetheless, the Pentagon's announcement signals that the case that began with a shooting rampage in Texas is now entering its final chapter — one that will be carried out under a method not seen in American military justice for more than six decades.
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